Last weekend I was thinking about which part of the park I wanted to visit when I remembered seeing a notice about a prescribed burn taking place in the Great Marsh. The initial location for the burn was about 350 acres directly to the west of Kemil road. Thinking that Kemil road might be blocked off at some point during the day I decided to head over to the Great Marsh trail which is about a mile east of there. Well… the details of these burns are dependent on weather conditions, and the burn ended up being moved to the 350ish acres between Kemil road and Broadway. Which meant that the initial ignition was about 200 feet away from the Great Marsh trail head.
With the wind blowing west to east this is the scene that greeted me when I got out of my car.Directly across the street from the parking lot the fire starters were laying down a line of fire that would slowly move to the west.As the fire took hold the smoke blowing across the road and into the Great Marsh trail got thicker, fast. For just a brief moment I though about going to a different trail. But none of the fire crew seemed to care that I was there and I decided that this was the “theme” of the day. So might as well make the most of it. It did not look like the smoke was going to get too thick…Just a few minutes on the trail and I knew this was going to be a great day to be out in the marsh. I also knew my clothes and gear were going to smell like a camp fire for about a week by the time I was done.It did not seem TOO likely that the fire would jump the road and torch my car… but what the heck, there is a train station quite close by if it came to that.After a while spent taking photos of the fire and the fire fighters in action, I turned my attention to the more usual photographic subjects along the trail. As the fire moved off to the west the air where I was would occasionally clear up.Winterberry Ivy is plentiful in this area. As a photographer my eye is more drawn to this kind of scene than the large clusters of perfectly formed berries. I like the textures in the shriveling and decaying leaves and fruit. The way that this particular leaf has curled into almost a perfect circle around the three remaining berries is what drew my attention.As always this time of year, the remaining Milkweed pods provide interesting insights. This particular one almost looks like it was intentionally cut open with a knife for the purpose of showing off the internal structure which I thought was really beautiful.My attention never left the burn going on across the road. So on the return leg of what is an out and back trail, I made a slight detour and walked along Broadway, where the initial fire line had begun. The burn crew had moved on to other parts of the burn by this time.Sometimes the wind would clear out the smoke nearby, allowing a view deeper into the burn area.The view down what was once a raised roadbed, from when the area had been drained in the expectation that people would buy lots to build homes on.After finishing the Great Marsh trail I decided to drive over to the nearby Dune Ridge trail which provides some nice elevated views into the Great Marsh where the burn was taking place. The flames mark the location of the remains of Beverly Dr., which I frequently post about.I have quite a few photos of this portion of the marsh taken from this exact spot atop the Dune Ridge. Later I will go back and find photos from different seasons before the burn to compare with this view.The wind was picking up and you could watch as the fire flared up in various spots, over and over again.
Even when you think you know what to expect before going out on a hike, you never know what you will get until you actually get there. Which is what makes this so much fun.
